Bonds Forgotten
by megelert3
Summary: Why was Hiyori able to see Yato in the first place when gods and shinki are mostly invisible to humans? In search of an explanation, Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine travel to another dimension searching for a library that may have some answers. But this new dimension brings with it new friends, enemies, and dangerous obstacles. (Naruto crossover)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! I just want give some back-story on this. I absolutely loved the plot and underlying nuances of Noragami and I strongly recommend both anime and manga, if you haven't seen one or the other. This story will mostly be based on the manga, though it is pretty consistent with the anime as well. There might be some things that don't fully make sense if you've only seen the anime, but it should be all right, since I am mostly focusing on a new arc/plot. Just as a heads up, this will be a crossover into a pretty well-known story. I believe this will provide me the best opportunity to really play with the plot and characters and develop the ideas that I want to develop.

**Spoilers: **This chapter contains some spoilers for chapter 37 of Noragami manga.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noragami, or any other incidental characters/settings from an already published source that may be represented in this story.

* * *

The Yatogami was deep in thought, sitting on the edge of the high school roof.

Why had Hiyori been able to see him that fateful day so long ago? It had never quite made sense to the Yatogami. And even though he had played it cool, as was his nature, he had never fully been satisfied. There was something more to this situation and he intended to find out what.

Never before had a human seen him without his calling attention specifically to himself. It wasn't as if she was particularly attentive. She hadn't seen the two other waitresses at the restaurant the day she had treated him and Yukine to a meal. So why had she been able to see him? Why had this human girl seen him and risked her own life to save him multiple times when no one else had even looked his way in the thousands of years he had been alive?

The rustling of cloth broke him out of his thoughts as Tenjin-sama walked up behind him.

"Yato, you wanted to see me?" said the old man quietly. Tenjin was interested to see what was so important, it had gotten the usually jovial Yatogami so serious. He usually wouldn't have answered a call away from his temple, but his own curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"Tenjin, I know you disapprove of my… bond with Hiyori. I can't… I can't do anything about that now, because she specifically wished to maintain the bond. But – don't you find it strange that she saw me? She saw _me_. Before everything started, she saw me and jumped into the street to save me from a bus." Yato paused, turning to face the other god, a strangely distressed look in his eyes. "Tenjin, humans aren't supposed to see gods or shinki, especially when they don't have a particular wish for something. Have there been any instances of this happening before?"

The elder raised his eyebrows, his arms clasped behind his back. If Yato was asking for his advice, this was serious indeed.

"I would have to look into it. I think there are some instances that human prophets have seen the one of the seven gods of fortune, or those close to death have seen shinigami, but I am not sure in this case. You are neither of those, and in fact, are easier to overlook than most gods," he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Yato brought his knees up, wrapping his hands around them, looking out into the distance. "I know. That's why it doesn't make sense," he sighed. "I have to help her get back to normal. If she doesn't want to rend our bond, I can only be selfishly relieved. But I know that this isn't good. Her state as a half-phantom is too vulnerable. I need to know more, and I felt that you would be the best to direct me to a source for more information."

The god of learning looked at the Yatogami in barely hidden surprise. This was a side of the god of calamity that he had never seen in the hundreds of years that he had known him. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he started "Well, there is a library of sorts that may offer some answers. But it is… how do I put it… in another time and place. You went to the underworld, which was another place, and the Binbogami can open a portal there, but this may take some more effort. It is… an alternate world, one might say, where the difference between gods and humans is more fluid."

Yato got up to his feet, flipping a 5-yen coin into the air and catching it, only to hold it out to Tenjin. Finally breaking out into his usual high spirits, he grinned, a determined look on his face. "Thanks, old man. Any idea how to get to this other place?"

With a dignified grunt, the older god delicately picked up the coin. "Not my usual going rate, but I will see what I can do."

* * *

It was Tenjin-sama's turn to grin as he handed a baffled Yatogami a slender book. He tapped it twice and suddenly, it grew to the size of a small _kotatsu_, causing Yato to yelp as he was pulled down by the unexpected weight.

"This might help you with figuring out how to get to the 'otherworld'. This textbook has some interesting theories on inter-dimensional travel. I got it from an old shinigami who visits that other world on occasion, and I can tell you that it cost a lot more than that 5-yen coin. I'll be expecting due compensation, " Tenjin paused, suddenly very serious, "The shinigami did give me some advice to give you – this is a very different world than ours, Yato. There are strange powers at play and the 'humans' in this world are more… dangerous."

Leaning on the upright book, Yato sighed, his other hand longingly holding his coin collection bottle. "Thanks, Tenjin. Here's all that I can pay you now. We can set up an arrangement when I get back." With that, he threw the bottle over to the older god of learning.

They both looked at each other and each gave a slight nod. _Stay safe, Yatogami._

* * *

"Yu-ki-neeee!" Yato yelled cheerfully, barging into Kofuku's house dragging a large book. Two faces with the same 'not-amused-at-all' look stared up at him, quickly morphing into confusion.

"Yato… you read?" asked the puzzled blonde Yukine, the large Daikoku nodding behind him in agreement.

"Yato-kun! What do we have here?" chirped the ever-happy pink-haired Binbogami, jumping in to latch onto the calamity god's back since his arms were occupied.

"A job," Yato replied simply, setting the book down on the table that the two Shinki were sitting at. He grew quiet, thinking of a way to explain. "It is becoming more and more dangerous for Hiyori to fall into her half-phantom state. I can't help but think that there is more to her than meets the eye – she saw me, before she was separated from her body when she ran in to push me out of the street. I didn't announce myself and she didn't need my help at that time either. No one has ever just seen me like that. No one sees a god unless they specifically have a wish, right?

So, I went and asked Tenjin for any possible sources of information about this sort of thing. He says that we may find some answers in a place… but it is sort of in another dimension. Yukine, any chance you'd come with me?" He struck a thoughtful pose, muttering, "Since I let go of Nora, you're my only shinki after all…"

Yukine's light auburn eyes softened, and a smile played on his face, knowing that his master was just trying to make light of the situation. This was the calamity god's way of apologizing for not taking him along on his mission to the underworld, and for using the stray shinki instead of him. But he had since let go of the stray, releasing her from the name he had given her. Now, it was up to Yukine alone to guide Yato to become the 'god of happiness' that he wanted to be.

With a deep sigh, Yukine crossed his arms in front of his chest, shaking his head. "Yato, I don't think you'd make it a day without me. You'd get into some sort of trouble." He then became very still as he continued, "If this is to help Hiyori, then let's get to it."

Daikoku and Kofuku looked up from the book on the table. They had it open to a page, reading the neatly handwritten script next to some large ink diagrams. Daikoku spoke up, "Well, you have your work cut out for you – from what I can tell, this is a book of complicated seals that requires manipulation of some sort of – hmm, soul energy? Not quite… the writer calls it 'chakra', and it seems like embodied willpower that is somehow channeled into the markings, which are specific directions."

"Mmm, he's right. I think that we may be able to help you open up a portal, but you'll have to figure out how to get these markings right," Kofuku said, in a rare state of seriousness. "Were you planning on telling Hiyori?"

Yato looked at her sharply, "No. It's too dangerous."

Kofuku smiled up at him uneasily. "I'm not sure you have that choice. I think that only a human possesses the right material to power this seal. Look, it's written right here – 'physical energy and spiritual energy comes together to form chakra.' Gods and shinki don't have physical energy. You'll need a human. Who else could you ask? You're going to have to take Hiyori with you."

"Take me where?" chimed Hiyori, standing at the door as she took her shoes off, her cheeks rosy from the cold air outside. Her pink translucent tail waved around idly as she smiled at everyone. As she looked back to see her sleeping body a few feet back, her smile became dry. "Ah, I lost my body again, didn't I?"

* * *

"No, no, and no. Hiyori, it's too dangerous and you can't go. That's final."

"It pains me to say it, but I agree with Yato. Help us with the portal and then stay here. We can find a way back ourselves."

"But this is about me! You both are going to go into some other dimension to try and figure out how to help me, right? I want to help! And I want to make sure you two are safe!"

"Tch, Hiyori, come with me, I need to talk to you," Yato said, dragging her into another room and closing the door behind him. She looked up at him with determined eyes. He'd seen this look before – when he had refused at first to help with the suicide cases, she had had this same look on her face before recklessly going off by herself. This was a dangerous look.

"Hiyori, you forgot something again," he said dryly, nodding as her pink tail once again twitched around behind her.

Her look became even more indignant. "I know but –"

"No, Hiyori, you don't get it!" he interrupted, "This is a dangerous position for you to be in. You are so vulnerable in this state – if this tail gets cut, then your soul is literally cut away from your body! Sure, you kick hard and jump high, but what happens when whatever you're facing is stronger and faster?" He shook her by the shoulders gently, "I can't keep letting you risk your life like this. Don't you understand? You're the first person to ever see me, see just _me_, not 'Yatogami.'" He was breathing hard as he dropped his voice to a whisper, "Not 'Yaboku.' And you've saved me now how many times?"

His voice took on a quality of desperation as he hung his head, still holding onto Hiyori's shoulders, "Let me help _you_. Your half-phantom state is too vulnerable. You've made a habit of saving me, but this is something Yukine and I must do ourselves to repay you and to keep you out of harm's way."

"Yato," she said softly, cupping his chin in her hands and lifting it up so that his bright blue eyes were looking into her deep purple ones. "Who's going to make sure that you and Yukine don't get into more trouble than you can handle, hm? And this is about me, about my situation, right? Don't I get a say in all this? I'm stronger than you think. You need me to open the portal, and I will – but only if I can come with you. I know that you will keep me safe, and I want to make that same promise to you and Yukine – I will protect you both."

Yato smiled an almost sad half-smile. He quickly hid it in a wide smile, pulling her in and nuzzling into her shoulder. "You'll forever be known as the stubborn girl who ordered around the god of calamity."

Hiyori blushed in embarrassment and fake-anger. "No silly! I'm the girl who ordered around the god of happiness. Now let go before I use 'Jungle Savate' on you again!"

As they opened the door to head back outside, an eavesdropping Kofuku fell into the room, an innocent expression schooled on her face, Daikoku shaking his head behind her at her antics.


	2. Chapter 2

**Spoilers: **This chapter contains some spoilers for chapters 20 and 44 of Noragami manga.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noragami, or any other incidental characters/settings from an already published source that may be represented in this story.

**(Updated 8/28/14)**

* * *

In the hot afternoon, Kofuku, Daikoku, Yukine, and Hiyori were poring over the large book of seals and drawing out drafts of the seal that would be needed to open a portal to the otherworld. Unbeknownst to them, Yato stood at the door, again in a serious mood.

As he peered in through the slightly ajar door, he couldn't help but sigh in frustration. This was absolutely too dangerous a mission for Hiyori to accompany them, but the silly girl insisted on coming. They had no idea what was in store for them in this otherworld and were just blindly storming in to find a library that was god-knows-where (excuse the pun).

His eyebrows relaxed as his expression turned melancholy. Hiyori… he had to protect her no matter what the costs. He had lived for hundreds of years in almost complete isolation until this bubbly, strong-willed, intelligent, wise-beyond-her-years girl with a big heart had somehow seen the unknown god. Until Hiyori, only the Nora and Father had kept him company, and only then, when they had some vile task for him to complete. Kofuku, Tenjin, and some of the other gods occasionally tolerated the Yatogami's presence, but his reputation of bringing death always preceded him, making for strained relationships.

The Yatogami knew little about his origin, but was clear about this much – he was 'born' as a god from Father's wishes for a god of calamity, so many years ago during the brutal wars of the feudal era. In the beginning, he was but a child, similar to the reborn Ebisu, innocent despite already being marked by Fate, a power mysterious even to gods. He remembered finding his first Shinki and naming her – Hiiro, a beautiful child who looked like porcelain and became a razor-edged sword at the call of her weapon name, Hiki. She was 'red,' for the blood the innocent child Yato was excited to shed, not knowing any other profession, 'red' to represent the strings of fate that the darling boy god could easily cut through, as was his special skill. He had not understood then that by naming her, he had made her a stray, a Nora by naming her. He had not understood the consequences until much later. She had just been his friend, and he had always felt so lonely, so he wanted to keep her by his side.

From his early godhood, Yato remembered only fleeting days of laughter and play with Father and the Nora among decades of total isolation. He remembered the girl brushing the blood out of his long, dark hair after a particularly devastating battle before giggling and vanishing as someone else called upon her using another name, as is the life of a stray shinki. He remembered Sakura… and the pain that had come from losing her. It had been the first time he had so deeply regretted being a god unable to use the powers of cutting through bonds on himself.

Gods do not age as humans do. They are 'born' as children equivalent to a human child of six or seven years of age. They age physically as they wish. Yato remembered following the people in the town, wondering why no one could see him, watching as they slowly grew older and older. The young Yato had not known he could control his aging, so he had grown along with them. After two decades of isolation, Father had once again appeared, and he had laughed at Yato's appearance.

"_Ah, you look like a man now, my dear Yato. It's different. I kind of miss the cute little you, so bright and smiling, covered in blood. No one expects a magatsukami, a god of calamity, to come in the guise of an innocent child!" _Father had said, smiling._ "Well, now you'll have better reach with the sword. I guess that's something good." _And that had been the end of that. Yato had realized then that he was something different, and with his consciousness, had stopped aging, looking like a young man in his prime.

However, for mental and emotional development, gods depend on relationships with shinki teaching them about sins, and their experiences in the world. Because of his limited relationships with any shinki due to his inability to provide for them, and because of his status as an unknown lesser god, Yato still maintained some childlike qualities. But usually, much of this was a mask to hide his true self, his desperation and self-loathing, his deepest regrets. Such was the life of a calamity god.

As Father had taught him so early on, nothing a god does can be wrong – everything a god does is righteous in nature. However, even the child Yatogami had always had doubts about this. And even without shinki to teach him about sins, for the Nora never once blighted him, the Yatogami learned the pain of having conscience and honor. Just as Hiyori was strange for seeing him, he was strange for feeling things that were meant for human souls, not gods of the far shore.

"Yato?" The clear, bell-like voice brought the Yatogami out of his thoughts. He quickly brought his eyes up to meet the speaker's. Hiyori stood at the doorway, her head cocked to the side.

"Were you there for long? Looked like you were somewhere else for a moment."

Yato quickly put on a silly smile, sticking his tongue out playfully. "Well, we _will_ be somewhere else soon, right? How is the seal-designing going?"

Hiyori's eyebrows bunched up as she looked at him confused. She seemed to have some comment on the tip of her tongue, but she shook her head, as if to clear it from her mind, and answered, "Mm, we're close to finishing it I think. The theory behind these seals is extremely complicated, so I'm afraid our try is fairly rudimentary, despite Kofuku and Daikoku's experience with portal-opening. But it should drop us down fairly safely into the otherworld. Did you find the supplies?"

"Yup! An old woman I worked for a long time ago owns a small clothing store. I stopped by and got us some simple travel clothes and cloaks. I have a water flask and a bag for some food for you. We should travel light, I think."

Hiyori nodded with a smile, flush with excitement for the adventure ahead. "We should be ready soon then! Could you help draw the final seal on the ground? I have seen your artwork, and I think it might be best you did it. I'm a bit afraid what Kofuku might draw up," she laughed, turning around and heading back to the others.

A flash of something – sadness, hope, pain – flashed through Yato's sapphire eyes before he once again masked it, flinging himself into the room. "Yoooo! Are we ready to go?!"

Yukine's quiet amber eyes followed the god as he filled the room with cheerful antics, dancing around with the equally bubbly Kofuku. He picked up on a bit more than his master probably realized. The connection between master and shinki was limited and while sinful thoughts got through pretty clearly, other thoughts remained the shinki's own.

Daikoku noticed the blonde child's thoughtful observation of the Yatogami, and placed a large hand on the boy's shoulder. "He'll protect you and Hiyori, don't worry. He may be a bit rough around the edges, but in the end, I don't think that Yato can help but be good."

Yukine looked up at the older shinki, then lowered his eyes to the table. "I know that. I'm worried about _him_ mostly. I'm his blessed regalia, his Hafuri vessel, and I will become strong to protect them both. But Daikoku-san, it will be hard trying to protect him from himself."

Daikoku chuckled, lacing his fingers behind his head and leaning back. "You three are an interesting group, but good for each other. Keep Yato in line, okay? That's our job as shinki."

* * *

By late afternoon, the seal was ready, drawn in chalk on the pavement in the garden of Kofuku's shrine by Yato's steady hand. The group of gods, shinki, and one human had gathered around it, looking quite solemn.

Yato gave Hiyori a sharp look. "Are you sure you want to come? We don't know what's out there. And what about your parents?"

She looked at him with that fierce look and he knew that she had made up her mind. "Yato, Yukine, I'm coming along. I left a letter for my parents, they'll be okay. I have to do this with you both. Kofuku-san, Daikoku-san, can we get started?"

"Ahhhh Hiyorin! You're so cute when you're stubborn like this!" Kofuku crooned, hugging the girl from behind.

Daikoku sighed as he plucked his goddess away from Hiyori. "Like we discussed before, I think you need to spill blood on the seal to provide the physical energy. Then the three of you need to be on the seal and that should automatically feed some of your spiritual energies into the seal as well. Kofuku and I will try to provide the spark to open the portal."

Yukine spoke up, "We don't know what might happen. I have to stay in this form for now, but if demons come through instead, Hiyori, _get out of the way_. Are we good?"

Everyone nodded, moving forward. Hiyori took a small knife and made a shallow cut on her palm, letting blood spill onto the center of the seal. As she stood, Yukine and Yato each took their place beside her. Yato, in the middle, reached out to grab both the shinki and the human's hand. As the god closed his hand around Hiyori's bleeding hand, she looked at him in surprise, trying to pull her hand away, but he held tighter.

"Ne, I'm bleeding.."

The Yatogami simply winked at her and grinned, then turned to face Kofuku. "Okay! Let's do this already."

The pink-haired goddess nodded, "Good luck you three! KOKKI!"

Daikoku turned into the intricate black fan that opened portals into hell and flew into the binbogami's hands. She brought him down gently onto the edge of the seal, and suddenly it lit up with shining light shifting between blue, purple, and gold. The light swirled around the three standing in the middle, blinding them.

When it died back down, the seal was burned into the pavement in black ink that looked like dried blood.

"Daikoku," Kofuku whispered, bringing the shinki back to his human form and firmly gripping his hand. "And now we wait."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noragami, or any other incidental characters/settings from an already published source that may be represented in this story.

* * *

Hiyori woke up with a start, her head throbbing. She slowly regained consciousness, acknowledging that she was not, in fact, waking up from her soft bed at home. With the sudden realization of what they had been doing – traveling to the otherworld – she gasped, jerking upward…

…Only to find that the three of them had been tied tightly together back-to-back with some type of thin wire.

"Hey! Look, they're waking up!" came a rough, loud voice sounding like it belonged to a young man.

Hiyori turned her pink-purple eyes up fearfully, only to turn puzzled – eyes brighter blue than even Yato's stared back at her from the face of a handsome young man. His spiky blonde hair was shockingly golden, but he could have easily passed for Yukine's older brother, albeit with more sun-kissed skin.

"Ah, sorry about the wires," he said, his eyes closing as he grinned widely, fox-like, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Dark line marks on both of his cheeks stretched out, almost like whiskers. "We sort of just got out of a war, so kind of have to be careful. Anyways, it was _his_ idea."

"Tch, troublesome. Stop trying to make friends with strangers, Naruto."

"Oh shut up Shika, how many lives have I saved doing just that?" the blonde yelled over his shoulder at a man leaning against large tree with a green flak jacket and dark hair in a ponytail. "Plus, these guys don't seem like a threat."

Hiyori's eyes widened as she heard Yato whisper beside her and the wire went slack simultaneously.

"_Sekki."_

Almost faster than she could see, Yato appeared on top of the blonde with whisker marks, Yukine's dual sword form in his hands, crossed at the blonde's neck.

The boy, 'Naruto', was just as fast, bringing his knees in and pushing Yato away with his feet, fluidly jumping up with wind bolstering him. Yato, taken by surprise, hesitated for a quick moment, giving Naruto enough time to make a quick hand seal before forming a large blue ball of spinning energy in one hand. Two Naruto copies appeared with a loud pop behind Yato, holding his arms back, rendering Yukine useless as well.

"Stop!" Hiyori yelled, running forward below the blue ball that Naruto had in his hand, pushing the blonde's arm upwards. The spinning mass of energy just barely missed Yato's face, and passed harmlessly beside his ears, ripping apart a lock of his hair before disappearing.

A large sigh escaped from the boy with the dark hair in a ponytail, 'Shika'. "Can we all just calm down a bit? I'm getting the sense that you three aren't exactly from around here, and I'd like to keep the injury count as low as possible." He had his two hands together in a hand sign, and his shadow had extended over to them. Hiyori and Yato found that they couldn't move even an inch from the spot they were in now.

As Hiyori's pink spirit-tail accidentally brushed past the blonde boy Naruto's nose, he let out a loud "Achoo!", his clones popping out in clouds.

"Aww man, Shikamaru, you always ruin the fun."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, holding his position as Naruto moved away from Hiyori and Yato. "_This_ is why I tied them up."

"And fat lot of good that did!" the blonde yelled backed, crossing his arms over his chest. He turned his attention back to the two snared in Shikamaru's jutsu trap. He grinned good-naturedly at Yato, "Good fight. You're pretty fast."

The calamity god grinned back, "Likewise." Nodding at the boy who had trapped him from behind, he added "And you're not half-bad either."

Yato's dual blades let out a rather human teen-like sigh and a mutter that sounded something like "Really? In this situation?"

Shikamaru spoke up again, "So, someone care to explain to me where that other blonde kid went, though judging from the sound of those dual blades, looks like he has some sort of power to morph into weaponry, right? And why do you have a pink tail?"

Yato and Hiyori quickly glanced at each other and then looked over to where they had been tied together. Hiyori's body lay there in the grass, mouth open and drooling as she 'slept'.

"Hiyori…" Yato deadpanned, "You forgot something important again." With a sigh, he called out "Yukine," releasing the shinki back to his human form. Yukine stood within the shadow that Shikamaru had used to capture the others, and therefore also couldn't move.

Naruto had followed their gaze over to where they had been situated. "Ehh?!" His voice rang out through the surrounding forest past the clearing that they were in now. "There's two of her?!"

* * *

The Rokudaime Hokage sat at his desk, signing some C-class mission reports from the previous week. A shadow clone sat in the corner of the airy office, feet up on the windowsill as it reclined in the comfortable plush chair, slowly going through profiles of the genin who had just graduated in order to put them into teams. The clone quickly wrote down a number of groupings, then popped out of existence. The hokage smiled almost evilly behind his dark maroon face mask for a second as the knowledge of the groupings transferred to him. Sakura would soon have her work cut out for her with her first genin team, as would many of the rookie nine who had recently been promoted to jonin.

As he was about to get back to work, he heard the loud and unmistakable voice of a certain student of his, along with the tell-tale phrase of "troublesome" in the foyer outside his office. The hokage sighed deeply. His peace had lasted all of three hours since he had sent these two out to investigate what the large flash of light in the forest outside the village gates had been. Mentally, he counted: _three, two, one…_

Naruto slammed the door to the office open, walking in with long strides. "Kakashi-sensei, we found out what, or I guess _who_ caused the disturbance, but I'm not sure you'll believe the story."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, "Well, in our line of work, many things are hard to believe at first."

"Blah, blah. Follow me, Shikamaru is out in the foyer with our guests." The energetic blonde nearly ran out in his excitement.

"I wonder why I even try," he said to himself with a thoughtful smile that turned a bit remorseful. He was quite new to the post of hokage, after Tsunade-sama decided to step down so that she could run the medic training program and hospital full-time. After the war, Konoha had rebuilt and recovered slowly. New bonds had been forged between the villages involved in the great war, and new legends from the younger generations had been born, especially within the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He had anticipated that he would be chosen for the post of Rokudaime ever since the end of the Great War a few years ago, but had finally been offered the post officially only about a year ago. He had apprenticed with Tsunade-sama then, slowly transitioning into the position as she spent more time at the hospital.

The biggest challenge he faced was within him. So many things had happened during the war, and so many friends had been lost. And with the temporary return of the previous hokages, Kakashi knew he had much to learn before he could live up to the title.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and stood, donning the white hokage robe over the ANBU uniform that he had started wearing again. His hitai-ate covered one eye, more due to habit than need since the events of the Great War. As he walked out, his hands in deep pockets within the robes, he was a striking image.

Or he would have been if Naruto hadn't taken that moment to ruin the image as always. "Senseiii, what took you so damn long? What, you have to get your face mask and hair _just right_ or something?" When he gave the young man a flat look, Naruto replied with a cheeky grin. The brat knew exactly what he had done.

With a deep breath, the gray-haired man looked around the room. Shikamaru had his hands out of his pockets – something surprising that meant that the genius ninja had decided that speed for making hand signs was imperative. In front of him were three individuals – a young woman and man, both probably in their late teens or early twenties, and a younger boy of around fifteen. They were all dressed in plain cloaks over comfortable pants and plain long-sleeve shirts. The girl had on a long pink scarf, while the older boy had a white ruffled scarf tied around his neck. The youngest had a tattoo in dark red ink on his clavicle similar to the kanji for "snow".

And faster than even Sharingan-no-Kakashi, Sixth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, could follow, the Yatogami clasped the man's hands in a vigorous handshake. "Hi! Fast, affordable, reliable – God Yato at your service! You need help, call me any time! Here's my number!" He maintained one hand shaking while taking out a business card from apparently nowhere, holding it out for the other man to take.

There was a resounding 'slap' sound as Yukine's palm met his own forehead quite loudly, and he let out an embarrassed groan. "Even in another world…" Hiyori let out a small giggle at that.

Kakashi plucked the business card gingerly out of the dark-haired young man's hand, giving a sharp look to Shikamaru, who had once again brought up his shadows to catch hold of the three 'guests'. The boy shrugged, maintaining his hand sign. Kakashi swept his gaze over to Naruto, only to find him sniggering behind a hand. His bright blue eyes lit with mirth as he too, shrugged, mouthing '_fast'_.

Yato, Yukine, and Hiyori all found themselves taking a few steps back as Shikamaru controlled them with his shadow jutsu.

"Pleasure to meet you… I think. I am the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure, Hatake Kakashi at your service. Now, I caught your name, ah, Yato-san. And you both are..?" He looked over at the girl and the younger boy.

Bowing, the girl replied, "I am Iki Hiyori."

With a small nod, the boy introduced himself as well. "I am Yukine, and I am bound to the god Yato, as his Blessed Regalia."

Yato interrupted with a brotherly croon, "Awwww, Yukine! You do care about me!"

The platinum blonde shook his fist at the Yatogami, "Shut up, I'm trying to make you look good! You're ruining it! Can't you show a little tact?"

Naruto's fox grin reappeared as he walked up behind Kakashi. "They don't seem to mean any harm." His eyes closed as his grin grew even wider, "And I like them, they're just my type."

Kakashi sighed, feeling old. "That somehow doesn't make me feel better, coming from _you_, Naruto."

* * *

A few hours later, Yato, Yukine, and Hiyori were comfortably situated in a small guest room in the Hokage tower.

At first they had protested, saying that they could find accommodations at a nearby inn, but the Hokage had insisted that they stay at the tower, admitting that while he didn't think they were here to make trouble, Yato seemed to be the kind of person that trouble followed. Yukine and Hiyori had just shook their head at the Yatogami at that statement, unable to argue with that logic. At that, Shikamaru had snorted and Naruto had laughed, clapping Yato on the back while the god was trying to look as innocent as possible with a "Who…me?" look on his face.

Naruto had then volunteered to be their guide, stating something about having to learn diplomacy at some point. Kakashi had dismissed them at that point, saying that he would see what he could do for their mission to find the library and update them as soon as he could. Overall, the leader of Konoha had been very forthcoming and helpful. It was also nice to have someone as cheerful and unassuming as Naruto be their guide, and the trio actually found themselves looking forward to getting to know the boy more over the next few days.

Much to Yato's relief, it seemed like they would have some time to get used to the dynamics of this world before they were thrust headfirst into some sort of danger. They had been extremely lucky landing near a friendly environment like Konoha. Yato had actually been extremely worried about what they would find, especially after Tenjin's warning about the dangers of this otherworld. He had been very disappointed in himself for being caught unaware when he had first woken up tied to Hiyori and Yukine, which was why he had reacted so strongly and belligerently. His eyes darkened alongside his thoughts as he sat brooding on the bed that he and Yukine would be sharing in the guest room.

If Shikamaru and Naruto had not been friendly… Hiyori could have died right then and there. He, the Yatogami, god of war and calamity, had utterly failed in his task to protect Hiyori within minutes of reaching this otherworld.

His brooding garnered the attention of his very attentive shinki. Yukine sighed loudly from his seat on a small armchair in the corner, giving Yato a sidelong glance. With Hiyori absent from the room as she showered, Yukine took this chance to finally confront his master.

"Yato… I know I haven't known you for all that long, but… I get it, okay? I get why you hide behind the goofy mask all the time, though maybe I don't fully understand _why_ I get it, but even with us? With me and Hiyori? I think we deserve a little more than that."

As the younger boy had started speaking, he turned to face the god, who had sharply raised his dark sapphire eyes to meet Yukine's warm honey-brown gaze.

As Yato opened his mouth, Yukine started again, "Wait, just let me finish. I know that the transmission of thoughts or whatever only goes from me to you, but Yato, I'm not stupid. And Hiyori is far from stupid. She's actually the one who first brought this up to me, though she'll probably kill me if she realizes I told you that," The blonde laughed blandly, "Well, good thing I'm already dead, right? Man, this is all so messed up sometimes… Okay well, look what I'm trying to say is – would it really kill you to confide in us every once in a while? I know you're used to being alone, but you're not anymore. And we care about you, just like I know you care about the both of us. I know Hiyori is special, believe me. She saved me too, more than you know. When you were down in the underworld, she was the one who kept me sane because we were both in the same situation – neither of us could do anything to help you! You don't tell us what's wrong and then you go put yourself into stupidly dangerous situations and someday that's going to backfire. I get if you don't want to tell Hiyori what goes on in your sometimes idiotic head, but your Hafuri vessel, it's my duty to protect you. I don't know if any of this made any sense, or if I'm going to have to beat this into you again later, but seriously Yato, you have to trust me. I think all three of us are here in this strange world making promises to ourselves in each of our heads that we will protect the others. If we work together and watch each other's backs instead of trying to become some sort of hero-martyr, I think all three of us can make it back home alive and with the information to get Hiyori back to normal. That's my goal. Good plan?"

Sometime within the monologue, Yato had picked up a pillow and was hugging it, resting his head on the soft fabric as he had listened intently to his shinki. At the end of Yukine's monologue, the god smiled softly – a pure, tired smile with no pretense. "Thank you, Yukine. You're right. It's hard for me… so keep reminding me, okay? I'm a little hard-headed," he said, knocking on his head, chuckling lightly.

"Eh, what's with this serious atmosphere?" Hiyori asked, walking out of the bathroom in a pair of soft pajamas that the Hokage had sent, along with some other supplies for them. Her long hair was wrapped in a towel that had fallen over sideways due to the weight. Both Yukine and Yato looked up at her, eyes wide open as if they'd been caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar. Yukine quickly averted his eyes, blushing, but not before stinging the god, who was still looking at the girl.

"Ow! Yukine, seriously," Yato exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm working on it! Sheesh, be a little patient why don't you? And give her some space! While you're at it, give _me_ some space, stinky!" The teen yelled out, jumping up from his chair and entering the now-free bathroom.

Hiyori laughed lightly as she sat down cross-legged on her bed, which was next to Yato and Yukine's. She and Yato were both enveloped in the soft glow of the lamp on the small bedside table between the two beds.

"Teenagers, huh?" she said, grinning at the god of calamity.

Yato turned away, looking forward and far away. "Yeah, tell me about it. More trouble than they're worth, that's for sure!" He smiled at Hiyori brightly as he said it.

"Hey! I'm still one, you know. Though not for very long. But I guess anyone is young compared to you and other gods, hmm?"

"I guess you could say that…" Yato began thoughtfully, tapping a finger to his chin. "I must be around two hundred years old. I'm not the oldest by far."

"Hmmm, then we have a pretty big age difference between us, don't we? Even though you only look a few years older. But honestly, for such an old man, you aren't very mature most of the time," Hiyori sniffed, closing her eyes primly and pushing her nose into the air. She opened one eye to look over at the god as her pretend-frown morphed into another grin. But her eyes hid worry – the Yatogami had been very serious for the past few days, though he tried to hide it behind cheer. She had talked to Yukine about it, but lately, her role among the trio had been confusing for her.

Her budding feelings of more-than-friendship for a god ten times her age was also a bit of a hindrance.

While he sometimes made fun of 'marrying her' or would call her incessantly until she picked up like a needy boyfriend, it was just that for him – fun. Hiyori knew that Yato had been lonely for many years. After speaking with Kofuku, she understood a little more about the goofy, cheerful, yet sometimes downright scary god. She realized the sort of message that she had sent when she had built the little shrine for him and promised not to forget him. But she wasn't really sure yet exactly _what_ she meant by any of it. Every time she felt herself being swept away by her confused feelings for the man, he reminded her that he was a god, not a man at all.

It had all gotten so very complicated, but one thing was simple – Hiyori knew that she wanted to be by his side and uphold her promise to not forget him. That was the least she could do. Yato and Yukine had become so close in the past months. It wasn't as if they needed her, but she liked to selfishly maintain that she was special to them in some way. Yukine was like a little brother to her – the sibling she had always wanted. She had been so very lonely in that large, empty house while her parents had worked so hard to build their dream careers. Maybe that was why she understood Yato's loneliness so well, and why she found herself unable to abandon him, even though she was intelligent enough to know that these interactions with gods and shinki was not what one would call 'good' for her. She couldn't truly have a life in the real world if she kept falling out of her body and becoming a half-phantom.

Overall, Hiyori was a sensible young woman. She took pride in being down-to-earth and mature for her age. Though she definitely didn't want to admit it, she had the sense to acknowledge that she was falling in love with a god of calamity, and she really wasn't sure whether this would end well for either of them. Especially because she saw similar emotions slowly growing in said god's eyes as well.

The bathroom shower turned on, and Yukine's voice could be heard singing, surprisingly melodically in a soft tenor voice. With a long-winded sigh, Hiyori got up, removing the towel from her hair, and getting under the covers of her bed. She would have to talk to Yato soon… but for now, she had traveled to another world, been tied up, and talked to the leader of a village full of ninja. She decided sleep was first on her to-do list.

"You'll get a cold if you sleep with your hair wet," Yato said softly, getting up from his bed and bringing over the hair dryer from a small alcove next to the bathroom door. This world was a surprising mix of modern and medieval. He somehow felt right at home in the mix.

Gently nudging the girl to sit towards the wall, he ran his hands through her hair, detangling the wet strands. He held the hair together in one hand as he dried using the hair dryer with the other hand. Here, with her so close, he felt like he could relax. She hadn't forgotten him yet. She still remembered. Here, in this room, she was safe from all the things that could hurt her, fragile human that she was.

Hiyori could only sit still as the Yatogami, god of war and calamity, gently dried her hair and even combed it straight afterwards. He hummed softly to himself some old tune that had long been lost to humankind, only remembered by the god who was always forgotten. Tears welled up in the girl's eyes with the kindness of it all, tears that she only let flow when she laid down and covered herself completely in the warm blankets.

As Yato sat down again in the other bed, reading a book about the basics of chakra, which seemed to be the source of power in this otherworld, he cast a sidelong glance at the small comforting bundle that was Hiyori. He brought a hand up to his chest, where there was this growing ache that he did not understand. Why was it that it acted up when he was happiest? He shrugged, whispering "goodnight" to the already-sleeping girl before turning back to the rather interesting book.

Maybe Yukine would know.

* * *

**Note:** So the crossover has been introduced! I hope that you enjoy thinking about the potential for this as much as I do. I think I will wait to classify it as a crossover until next chapter... I hope that you all can still find it after it is listed as such.

I would like to briefly discuss my directions on this story. I absolutely adore the characters of Noragami, especially the main trio. My purpose with writing this story is mostly to explore these characters and develop them as much as I possibly can through the narrative. Having said this, I do want to write about the obvious chemistry between Yato and Hiyori, but I want to try and do it justice by also exploring the deeper issues surrounding this like the age difference, the god/human interaction, the warning from Tenjin in the manga about "Aragami" arising from humans meddling in gods' affairs.

I've always had an issue with not finishing what I start (as you may see from the many unfinished stories on my profile), but I will do my best to plan this narrative out and see it through. You may also notice that my writing is a bit different now - funny what seven years can do for a person! I was pretty shocked to realize how much time has passed since I wrote on fanfiction last.

Anyways, I digress - I hope that you enjoy and I hope to gain some more writing experience through this story!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noragami, Naruto, or any other incidental characters/settings from an already published source that may be represented in this story.

* * *

The next day, they were woken by energetic knocking outside the guest room door.

"Waking" was a relative term since neither gods nor shinki really needed sleep unless healing from something. Since Yukine only recently became a shinki and was still used to going through the motions of being a regular human being, the boy usually did sleep. Yato usually went through the motions, hence the nights spent at Tenjin's shrines, but in general, the night was simply a time to mull over his own thoughts – and lately there had been too many. One of the main thoughts running through his mind was whether anyone in this world even remembered him anymore.

As the knocking continued, met with some groans from the other two sleeping inhabitants in the room, Yato sighed, getting up and walking over to the door. As he opened it, he prepared for the worst – either he would be forgotten or invisible. No matter how many times this happened, it still sent a painful twinge through the calamity god's heart.

So imagine his surprise when Naruto looked up at him nonchalantly, expectantly even, and said, "Oh, hi. Good morning, Yato-san. I'm here to give you all a tour of the village, if you want one." The young man scrunched up his nose, looking for all intents and purposes like a fox that had smelled something very bad. "I know it sounds boring, but I promise to make it as interesting as possible!" At this, he broke out into a grin. "Well, I _was _known as the biggest prankster in the village, so I know all the best spots. There was this one time where I…"

As the young ninja continued talking about some of his escapades, Yato went through a series of emotions, the first being shock. He was utterly bewildered – a whole night had passed, and someone remembered him. The emotions to follow were a strange mix of happiness, suspicion, and curiosity. He had come to this world looking for answers, but he may have accidentally stumbled only upon more questions. But, whatever the case, it seemed like this world would be interesting at the very least.

Naruto stopped mid-sentence in an explanation about his infamous 'painting exhibition' in the Hyuuga compound as he noticed a sleepy Yukine walk up behind Yato, rubbing his golden-brown eyes. "Ah, Yukine! Hey, I have some friends I'd like you to meet. Want to come along? They were going to practice with me this morning, and I think they're around the same age as you so I thought it might be fun."

Yukine looked up at the boy, eyes wide. Yato, knowing exactly what he was thinking, whispered sideways at his shinki, "Yeah, I know it's weird. Talk later." Then, in a louder voice, "That sounds great! Yukine, why don't you go with him and I'll bring Hiyori soon to take a tour with Naruto-san."

The young shinki, in somewhat of a trance, nodded his head, running back into the room to get some clothes to change into.

Naruto observed, a small sad smile on his face. "I've always wanted a brother." His words hid a longing that Yato understood more than most. The blonde put on a large grin that made his eyes close up, "A few people told me that Yukine looks a bit like me, a bit like a younger brother! I've never really had a family so that made me really happy."

"Well, I'm sure that Yukine is happy that you want to be his friend. He and I don't exactly socialize much in our world. Just take care of him, would you?" Yato said, smiling kindly at the young man.

"I definitely will! I might even teach him something," Naruto laughed out excitedly, plans churning through his brain, "I usually tutor the friends that I'm going to see anyways."

Yato bowed his head slightly at the young ninja, closing the door as Yukine was dragged out my the older, more awake blonde. "Thank you for remembering him," he whispered as they were out of earshot, but he could swear that Naruto had turned back for just a split second as if he had heard.

As he walked back into the room, ready to curl back into bed and pick up the book on chakra again for another half hour, he saw that Hiyori had pulled all the covers and a pillow over her head.

Her voice was muffled as she grumbled, "So loud."

Yato grinned, sitting down and opening up the book to where he had stopped the night before. This chakra seemed to be the power most prevalent within this world. It was a combination of spiritual and physical energy that could be molded into different forms, including elemental powers. The conscious molding of this energy seemed to be limited to a certain percentage of the population that was trained in its use. Usage of this energy at a younger age seemed to help in developing the pathways in the body for the chakra to flow. But sufficient spiritual connection should theoretically also result in similar development of these chakra pathways.

And so, with a hint of the overconfident air that he always tried to maintain, the Yatogami decided he would try out this world's peculiar expression of power. But first, he would need another book or a teacher, which meant that they had to get ready to head out… which meant waking up the sleeping Hiyori.

Yato got a mischievous grin on his face, getting up slowly from the bed. With a loud yell of "Hiyoriiii, can't you wake up already? We have to go!", the calamity god tackled the poor sleeping girl, bundling her up into a big cocoon of sheets and blankets.

She screeched, managing to free her arms enough to use the pillow that had remained in the bundle as a weapon for hitting the Yatogami again and again. The god's laughter rang out as he held on tight, swinging the bundled-up human girl around a bit before finally letting her back down onto the bed.

She looked up at him with a big pout on her face and eyebrows scrunched over her pink-purple eyes. She got up with a huff and made her way to the bathroom, grumbling something about gods being more trouble than they're worth.

Yato's clear laughter rang out once more as she walked away, her spirit tail flicking in irritation behind her. The girl had left her sleeping body behind once more.

* * *

It turned out that Naruto had left them instructions to a training field on the outer edges of the village. As they walked side-by-side in a comfortable silence, they passed by the town's market square, where a variety of vendors were selling their wares along the street.

One display caught Hiyori's eye. "Oh, Yato, look at this! These are some absolutely beautiful blades." She looked up at him, her big amethyst-colored eyes serious. "Do you think I should learn some sort of self-defense, besides what I can do when I am a half-phantom? I want to be able to take care of myself. You and Yukine can't always be there to help me out, and I don't want to depend on it – that would be dangerous. And I definitely want to have some sort of skills in my body, not just as a spirit."

Yato nodded in agreement. "I was actually going to suggest something similar, though you may be more suited for hand-to-hand combat, because of your _ungodly_ obsession with – oh who was that silly fighter person again who pretends to fight on the TV? Hmm, even the name escapes me, he is so unimportant."

"His name is Tono-sama!" Hiyori yelled back, thumping the god over the head. She quickly turned back to the merchandise on display outside the weapons shop, her arms crossed in front of her gruffly.

Yato chuckled, "Too easy to get you riled up. Anyways, I think that with your penchant for hand-to-hand combat, it would compliment your style to have two short swords or daggers. They can lengthen your reach but also keep you close enough to use your legs. We can figure this out and start training as soon as you want to, Hiyori."

Hiyori nodded, stepping away from the display. They picked up their pace and resumed their thoughtful silence as they continued to the training field.

As she walked with a small, wry smile on her face, Hiyori's mind was filled with thoughts of learning how to use a weapon. But Tono-sama was forgotten by her traitorous mind, which could only think of a certain blue-eyed god's graceful, well-balanced fighting style.

Said blue-eyed god was walking a few steps behind Hiyori, his thoughts focusing only on how much he wanted to snatch up the brown-haired girl's delicate hand as they walked down the cobblestone path.

* * *

"Oy! Yato, Hiyori, over here!" called out a rather flushed Yukine who looked like he had just run a marathon or two. He had a rather large grin on his face as he ran over to his companions who had just crossed into the training field's perimeter.

Naruto, mirroring Yukine's grin, walked behind him, waving excitedly. "You both missed a great training session. Yukine here is fast! And he got on pretty well with my friends, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. They just left for lunch, but you'll get to meet them some time or another."

Naruto and Yukine's stomachs growled loudly at the thought of lunch.

Sheepishly smiling, Naruto started, "Speaking of lunch, that doesn't sound like a bad idea right about now."

Hiyori held up a large bag, her smile gentle. "Well, then I'd say we had good timing. Why don't we sit down for a picnic. We can talk about your morning and learn more about the village while we eat."

The four of them set up the blanket that Yato had gotten (he had popped into their hotel room when Hiyori had suggested a picnic), and sat down to a lunch of onigiri and dango. They had paid for it with the ryo that the Hokage had provided them the day before to last them until they made other arrangements.

"So, what did you do this morning, Yukine and Naruto?" Hiyori asked cheerfully, holding onto her onigiri.

"Well, Naruto and I met up with his friends here. They wanted some combat practice and Naruto was helping them specifically with tactics and speed. He can make clones of himself – it's so awesome! So then he set up an obstacle course of sorts with these clones, and we had to run through it. After each of us ran through it, then we had some time to share our thought process and strategies, so that we could improve our tactical approach."

"Yukine was pretty good at the exercise – he had some interesting strategies and adapted well. He would have been even more successful if he had a weapon or two, but he refused," Naruto ended, tilting his head in confusion over at Yato. "Something about not being allowed to hold a weapon?"

Yukine flushed at the question. Seeing this, Hiyori reached over to pat the young shinki's back.

Yato sighed, thinking about how to answer. How much information was safe to give the people of this otherworld? A moment later, he shrugged, taking another helping of dango. "It's a bit complicated, but like I said before with your leader, I'm a god. Yukine is my shinki – my conscience, guide, and weapon. Shinki are human souls who after death, are named and claimed by gods. This naming creates a bond between god and shinki, even allowing for transmission of certain thoughts and emotions, though not all. However, if a shinki commits a sin, their master, the god, is punished through what we call 'blighting' – it is a special type of contamination. Because shinki serve as gods' weapons, if they themselves take up a weapon, it badly blights the god they serve. Enough blighting can kill a god."

As he finished, Yato poured himself some green tea from the thermos that they had brought, ignoring the shocked look on Naruto's face.

"Enough about that, though. Tell us more about your world, Naruto. Our mission will probably put us in the thick of unknown territory soon enough, and it would be good to know the basics of how this world operates," Yato continued, cool blue eyes meeting blue.

Rubbing his nose and recovering with animal grace, Naruto began, "Right. Well, I can begin by explaining the governmental system – there are multiple large regions operated by non-ninja daimyo, or lords. This is generally a system of succession, though sometimes succession is diverted through coups of various methods. Five lands in particular are the most powerful – Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning, and Wind countries, and each have respective ninja villages within their borders. These ninja villages run by Kage, ninja leaders of highest rank. Kage are on the same political level as daimyo, but there are many fewer ninja than non-ninja military, providing a tentative balance in terms of physical power. The balance is generally more on a financial level, however – the Kage negotiates job contracts with the different daimyo of nearby countries. These contracts are ranked according to skill and manpower required, and then distributed to the ninja of the village..." Naruto petered out, "Eh, Hiyori-san, you don't have to write any of this down, I'm not testing you later…"

Yato and Yukine looked over at the girl, who was busily writing down notes and drawing diagrams in a notebook.

"If you studied this hard at school, Hiyori, you'd have already gotten into a university. Besides, don't worry, I'm storing this all riiight up here," the god said, pointing to his head. Yukine and Naruto edged away from him slowly with worried glances shifting back and forth between the girl and the god.

Hiyori glared, irked, then suddenly threw a punch out, knocking the Yatogami back, where he remained, fake-crying and throwing a small fit. Hiyori turned her sharp purple eyes back to Naruto, smiling as the blonde ninja stared worriedly back at her.

"Naruto-san, please continue."

Gulping, Naruto did as she asked, though not before shrewdly noticing that Yato could have easily avoided the punch. "Ah, okay. So, ninja start out training in ninja school at an early age according to the principles of their village. Here in Konoha, they generally start at 8 and graduate at 12. Throughout their education, they learn about jutsus – different ninja skills. This includes taijutsu, or martial arts, genjutsu, illusion techniques, and ninjutsu, usually chakra-based techniques. Then they are placed into teams with their peers – teams are tested and those who pass become genin, or the lowest level of ninja. They then have opportunities to climb to higher ranks – chunin are mid-level ninja, jonin and special jonin are upper-level, and then finally, the hokage is the most powerful like I mentioned before."

"I was curious, actually, about how chakra works – I was reading a book on it back at the room, but I think that being able to use it could be very useful. Could you go through some exercises with us?" Yato asked, leaning forward on his arms.

"Sure, why not. Hmm, where should I start?" Naruto stopped to think, absentmindedly chewing on another onigiri.

* * *

A few hours later, the tour of Konoha forgotten, the three otherworldly companions could be found soaking wet on the edge of a stream. Naruto was busy laughing at them as he ran about merrily, molding chakra to his feet to stay on top of the running water.

Until, of course, a particularly frustrated Yatogami decided to materialize in front of the blonde ninja and knock him into the water with a yell.

Soon after, everyone emerged onto the banks as they decided to take a small break from chakra training.

Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine, to their delight, had found out that afternoon that they could access and mold chakra in this world when Naruto had taken them through some simple academy-level exercises. After a long discussion about speculations about why they did in fact have access to chakra, the group had come to the conclusion that it had to do with their spiritual energy changing form in this world to chakra.

Yato kept to himself that he discovered some extra powers through accessing this chakra – mainly, he found that he was able to analyze the chakras of the others, in terms of power, 'feel' or 'element,' and intent, though this was hard to describe. He found himself looking strangely at Naruto's chakra, which felt like an odd combination of deep radiant heat, like that of a large dormant volcano, and a crisp mountain wind, with hints of earthiness. The heat almost rose up to meet the god, and Yato drew back, wary of what felt like a force of nature itself. However, the cheerful ninja had only the purest intent, and this satisfied the god as he continued surveying. They were all entitled to secrets, of course, and though it made the god uneasy, he trusted that he had enough power to at least get Yukine and Hiyori out of harm's way if things went bad.

In contrast, Hiyori and Yukine had fairly straightforward chakras. The girl's resembled warm summer rain, and Yukine's was like winter frost.

His own chakra, Yato had noticed wryly, was like angry fire just under a calm, molten surface of metal. The god almost laughed bitterly at the lack of the smell of blood – it was ironic that his chakra so resembled his past. But it was a mere shadow of his past, without the blood, the feeling of a sword plunging into soft skin and hard muscle, ripping, the clanging of metal, and the screams on the battlefield.

At the time, he had been so consumed by thoughts, that the Yatogami had not noticed Naruto looking at him intensely.

* * *

"_That one is a powerful being_. _Be wary of him, Naruto, though I do not sense any malice or ill intent,_" Kurama said in his rumbling voice in the depths Naruto's being.

Naruto projected his agreement, adding a bit mischievously back to the fox, "_But if I had listened to everything they said about you, we wouldn't be here right now, would we, Kurama?_"

He laughed in his mind as he felt the great fox grumble something that sounded like '_foolish child' _as he retreated back into the shadows of the seal that kept him within Naruto's being._  
_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Noragami, Naruto, or any other incidental characters/settings from an already published source that may be represented in this story.

* * *

"Report, Naruto," sighed a weary Kakashi, still slowly rummaging through paperwork to find the particular report that he wanted.

"I have been acting as guide and ambassador for the visitors, Yato-san, Hiyori-san, and Yukine-kun. They expressed some interest in learning how to utilize chakra to help defend themselves in this world, so I obliged – they are in fact, surprisingly able to access chakra, and so I took the initiative to teach some basic academy-level jutsu. I have also taught them a few jutsu for convenience while camping along their journey. Also, this may be of interest – Kurama has communicated that while he does not sense any ill intent, the Yatogami is a fairly powerful being. I am inclined to agree with this – he is powerful and we have definitely not seen the full extent of his abilities, but he is dedicated to his quest— what?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, grinning above the sharp look that Kakashi was giving him.

Kakashi stared a few moments longer before running a hand through his hair, looking back down at his papers. "It's going to take a long time to get used to your ability to behave like an adult. I know you've been training for the Hokage position for a while now, but it still unnerves me when I hear you talk… smartly."

Naruto snorted before flashing another grin, "I just acted stupid, you know. I've always been smart – I just wanted attention, and the easiest way was to be loud and stupid. I can be eloquent and use big words when I want."

Kakashi chuckled, "Don't get ahead of yourself. You were pretty stupid in the beginning."

Naruto rolled his eyes, smirking. "Stupid enough to escape multiple teams of ANBU while playing pranks on the great Shinobi clans of Konoha when I was six… right. Anyways, Yato-san and his company are wondering when they could meet with you – Yato-san would like to get to traveling as soon as possible so that they can return to their world as soon as they can. He is concerned about the effect of their extended stay in this world, and I am in wholehearted agreement with this concern. Yato-san is a god with an unknown set of skills and powers, and I'm getting worried what might happen if word of him spreads."

"I know… For now, his identity is only fully known to you, Shikamaru, and myself. It's probably good that they can access chakra – that brings the possibility of giving them identities of low-ranking ninja from a minor allied nation. Though we have to treat this delicately – if Yato and his companions are as strong as you say, it may be hazardous for them to learn too much. As for the whereabouts of a possible library, I have sent out some messages and should be getting some responses back soon. I've been thinking though, that with your supervision, maybe they can start looking into the Konoha library. See if you can figure out what they want to learn, and we can take further action based on this information."

"Sounds good, Kakashi-sensei, I'll keep you informed about what I find out." Naruto said with a sharp nod before disappearing in a cloud of wind and fire.

* * *

Yato was getting antsy. The longer they stayed in this world, the more precarious their situation. Already, even within the few days that they had been there, Yukine was getting more and more attached to Naruto, and soon, people would start asking questions about the three of them. If word got out that Yato was a god… he wasn't sure what would happen.

Gods didn't have to answer a prayer that they did not agree with, and could not be found at fault for this since everything that a god did was considered righteous. However, that would bring the wrong kind of attention on his companions. Being recognized as a god could also put his group in the position of direct competition to the ninja villages – even Kakashi, while fairly benevolent and reasonable at first impression, may take measures to protect Konoha's income and resources if he felt Yato was any sort of threat. Yato did not take this personally, since that was exactly what he would be thinking if he was in Kakashi's position.

And even more worrisome was the possibility that the unknown gods of this world would soon find out about the trio, if they hadn't already. Tenjin had given Yato some information about the old shinigami that sometimes frequented this world, but there had not been any other information about the gods of this otherworld.

Overall, it was clear that it was best for everyone if the three of them went about their journey, found the library, found the solution to Hiyori's issue, and got the hell out of this world as soon as possible.

* * *

"Man, I wish we could just stay here forever," Yukine sighed, stretching his arms above his head as he tipped the armchair he was sitting in back, balancing on two of its legs.

Hiyori made a small sound of half-hearted agreement as she rummaged through the books that Naruto had brought them from the Konoha library.

Yukine was quick to notice the sadness in her eyes as she glossed over pages, not really reading. "Hiyori… are you okay?"

She turned away quickly, "Ah, yeah I am!" Her voice wavered.

The room was encompassed in silence for a minute before Yukine leaned forward, bringing the chair legs down with a thud. With a bitter chuckle, he began, "You know, I can't decide who's worse at hiding your true feelings – you or Yato. What's bothering you?"

When the brown-haired girl merely put her head down in between crossed arms, the younger blonde continued. "Hiyori… you think Yato and I don't notice the way that you look at all the parents with their children on the streets. You miss your parents, don't you?" At the girl's continued silence, Yukine brushed his hair back, frustrated, "you know, at least you have someone to miss! You should cherish that!"

"Enough, Yukine," Yato said quietly. He had appeared in the far corner of the room, leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets. He was looking out the window at the waning moon of this world – so familiar, yet so different in this otherworld.

The god shifted forward, pushing off the wall and quickly walking up to Hiyori, whose muffled cries were slowly becoming audible. He pulled her up and she turned quickly, burying her face into his chest, holding onto the Yatogami tightly as she continued to cry softly.

"It's okay, Hiyori, let it out, we're here," he said softly, guiding her over to her bed, made her get in, and tucked her into the covers. He sat beside her, slowly stroking her hair. He looked sadly at Yukine, and nodded over to the window. "Get some air, I'll come out in a bit."

Yukine nodded. It hadn't been a suggestion. He quickly walked over to the open window and jumped out, making his way to the roof of the tower.

The god turned back to Hiyori. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly. "We don't have to, but apparently it helps according to my holier-than-thou blessed regalia," he chuckled. "That boy understands too much for his own good…" Yato rambled on a bit about silly nothings, and slowly Hiyori's breathing became deeper and more even.

"I don't miss them, you know," she said in a whisper, taking in a shaky breath. She slowly sat up, and Yato handed her a glass of water, which she sipped from, giving him a grateful look.

Clearing her throat a bit, she looked down into the glass. This time, the words started tumbling out as she tried to fill the empty glass with her thoughts. "I don't miss my parents. When Yukine said that he wished we could stay here… I know we've only been here a little while, but Yato, it is good here – the people of Konoha are friendly, and Naruto treats Yukine just like a brother, and people here see and remember both of you! When he said he wanted to stay, I agreed with him. I am the worst daughter there could ever be – I left them a letter, and I ran out. And that was that. I was fine. Yato, I feel so guilty." She stopped and took another breath, this time less shaky. With almost a forced determination, she continued, "They weren't bad parents… they just were never there because the hospital took up all their time. They're good people, I know that, and I know they love me. But… I always felt so alone. And now, with you and Yukine and Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san, I finally feel like… like…"

"Like you belong?" Yato said, his voice low. He gently took the glass out of Hiyori's clenched hands, setting it aside on the table before turning back to the brown-haired girl. With feather light touch, he brushed away the tears with his thumbs, cupping her chin and bringing it up. Blue eyes the color of a clear, bright summer day met the dark pink quartz eyes. He was so close to her, Yato could see her eyelashes, the strands coming together due to the tears bubbling over.

"You held me like this once and taught me a lesson that saved me," he said, smiling softly. "Hiyori, you're not alone anymore. Be the strong, compassionate, headstrong person that I know you are. Let's find what we are looking for and get home as soon as we can. Where 'home' might be – we'll get to it when we get to it. As the stray, I think I can speak with authority when I say that 'home' is usually a _who_, not a _where_."

Tears fell down Hiyori's cheek, wetting Yato's fingers. The god quickly pulled the girl into a hug, sighing deeply as he stroked her hair again, leaning down to place a tender kiss on the top of her head.

"Shhh, it's okay, we'll be strong together."


End file.
